Liquimoly 0W-20 for Prius 2010?

Why so darn thin? 0-40 is the jack of all trades. Just can't imagine such thing oil in an engine....can u keep us posted on your consumption after 150k?

 

I see people buy coffee and throw away coffee cups, plastic knifes, spoons, styrofoam cups, napkins, wrapped plastic water bottles, straws & aluminum soda cans. Women should be carrying 5 gallon jugs also refilling them also and not buy individual gallons. Ratting them out also, not just single out the individual quart bottle of oil people.

 

Bulk when you buy oil stored in oil drums at dealers, they dispense it for you on the spot. Sometimes not all drums are labeled, but it contains specific oil brand and/or weight. When the oil runs low, they just pour more oil the drum like another type of oil when it's low when they don't pay attention. Then they dispense it for you.

Have friends who worked at those quick oil change places and they don't care to pour out all the oil first to empty out, just dump the incoming oil into the drum to fill it up even if different brand/weight because they don't care or want to get in trouble. Some don't even put the right oil in your car so I wouldn't depend on them dispensing from the right drum for bulk sale.

 

Never thought of that! GOOD IDEA!
NOTHING should be sold in less than 5 gallons!

 

I wondered that too for a long time......and assumed it was only because of fuel consumption reasons, trying to squeeze that last 100th of a mile out of a gallon.

That is a part of it but saw an article from a respected car expert (don't remember who or where) that pointed out that the tolerances are tighter with modern manufacturing techniques and a thinner oil is NEEDED to successfully get into the tighter spaces where lubrication is needed. I don't KNOW that is really true.......but it sounds logical to me.

 

That's the Costco maxim, lol.

 

I don't think that's the case with the Prius, in other parts of the world they call for heavier weight oil. It seems like a fuel mileage decision on Toyotas part. I'm using Motul 0-40 in my Prius and getting great oil analysis numbers back showing very little wear, which indicates 0-w40 is doing a very good job lubricating the engine.

 

I think Australia (at least) mentions a pretty full gamut of oil weight, but still recommends 0W20.

But yeah, if your engine is getting on and starting to consume, doesn't hurt to try going up.

 

But not all oil of the same weight has the same additives. Do you not consider that there may be variations in performance between different "name brand" oils, any of which may be better than some "no name" oils?

 

But isn't the first number in the "weight" label the cold viscosity? So shouldn't "0W-<anything>" have similar viscosity at outdoor winter temperatures?

 

Not sure I agree with that conclusion.......unless maybe you also send you filter in for analysis.
Hopefully any metal wear would be trapped in the filter.

Then.....I don't think that 0W20 is much different than 0W40......because they both perform like a 0 weight when cold and the 40 just resists additional thinning better when hot.

 

I've got an (uneducated) hunch a 0W20 would be slightly thinner than a 0W40 at any temp?

 

That's exactly what it does. Check the thread I posted for wear numbers on the 0w-40. No one does an analysis on oil filters. None of mine have had any visible metal when changed. The only way you'd see metal on a filter of a car with over 100k is if something catastrophic is wrong. The oil analysis breaks down all of the fine metal particles suspended in the oil, which indicated my car has very little wear.

The numbers don't lie. 0w-40 is good stuff, and gives some overhead protection when the car is hot. 0w-20 is very thin oil, I'm just not comfortable running something that thin, especially since my application includes a lot of 8+ hour highway driving at 75mph and a healthy dose of track/autocross time.

Better oil in any case isn't strictly necessary for these cars. The engine is never under a terrible amount of stress. I want to keep it running in top condition for as long as possible so I spend a bit more on my oil. If you're changing your oil at or below the OCI I shouldn't matter much for regular use purposes.

For the thread topic, liquimoly is a fine oil if you choose to use it. It's heavily used in Europe and a lot of people have great results. Have at it, you may see decreased wear if you're doing an oil analysis. It likely won't net you any MPG improvement, but your engine may last longer than using cheap oil. But with these cars, "longer" is dying at 400,000 miles instead of 350,000.

 

100k is not high mileage.

 

Why now use 1/2 0w20 and 1/2 0w40? Or 5wXw?
As long as you are using the same brand.

 

People worry WAY, WAY too much about the oil that they use.
Any.....or all .....of those would be perfectly fine.

 

Hard to go wrong with the manufactures recommendations.

 

Especially the transmission fluid.

 

The moniker "high mileage" on a motor oil indicates it swells the rubber seals. When you use it is up to you. The ads infer it's beyond some mileage, which is borderline deceptive. I would only use as a last-ditch effort to extend a heavy oil consumer.